Each weekday morning, BDL serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your Asian brined pork loin with gingered yams and five spice apples.

Frank Isola, New York Daily News: "LeBron James, the most famous Yankees fan living in Ohio, says he will not be attending Friday's victory parade in lower Manhattan. 'No, my parade starts at eight at night,' LeBron told Cleveland reporters, referring to Friday's game with the Knicks. James makes his one and only visit to New York on Friday (of course, his official visit is July 1st when he is scheduled to become a free agent.) 'I've thought about playing everywhere,' James said prior to Thursday's game with Chicago. 'At one point in my life, I've thought about playing every team in the NBA.' James did admit that the league would be better off if the Knicks were a contending team. [...] 'I think the league is doing just fine, but with the Knicks being good, the Celtics being good, the Lakers being good, it makes the league that much better. I'm talking as a fan now, please understand.'"

Ailene Voisin, Sac Bee: "Kevin Martin leaned against the wall in the Kings' practice facility Thursday afternoon, still very much in shock, his damaged left wrist dangling at his side. Hours earlier, an MRI revealed that the league's third-leading scorer — and the Kings' best player — sustained a hairline fracture Monday night in a collision with the Memphis Grizzlies' Allen Iverson. Martin was presented with three options, all of them terrible: He can wear a soft cast and attempt to play, risking further injury and possibly a complete break. He can undergo surgery and have a screw inserted to stabilize the bone, with recovery projected at six to eight weeks. Or he can have the arm casted and hope that the wrist heals itself during a comparable six- to eight-week rehabilitation period."

Read More »

A look around the league and the web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.

C: GQ. Golden State Warriors rookie Stephen Curry(notes) talks/blogs about his NBA debut.
PF: With Malice. Sam Smith is crazy if he thinks LBJ-to-LA works whilst Kobe's still there.
SF: SRI. Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace discusses the complaints by Allen Iverson(notes) after just one game.
SG: Tax Watchdog. Report: NBA legend and Raps assistant coach Alex English owes the tax man $127k.
PG: TrueHoop. According to sources, DeJuan Blair(notes) was 10 seconds away from being a Cavalier.
6th: Supersonicsoul. Graph: Eventual NBA champions' first 10 games.
7th: 3030FM. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird trade barbs on "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien."
8th: Dime. Five player rivalries some would like to see start this year or in the immediate future.
9th: The Painted Area. Is Vince Carter's(notes) Hall of Fame legacy on the line?
10th: Empty The Bench. Should NBA TV analyst Rick Kamla be suspended for his flippant Yi remarks?

Got a tip or link for Ball Don't Lie? Hit me up at jeskeets (at) yahoo.ca or follow me on Twitter.

Los Angeles Lakers 103, Houston 102

I really loved watching this game. Such fun. Such flow.

Yao Ming and Pau Gasol are two of my favorite players, absolute favorite players, and they couldn't take part. The Lakers played the night before, and played 53 minutes the night before, so they weren't working at peak efficiency. The Rockets want some shots back, maybe some calls back. It wasn't perfect.

But, damn ... I watched 12 hours of basketball on Sunday, six on Monday night, six on Tuesday night, and six on Wednesday night. That's not even getting into the afternoon watching, just me as a fan, with nothing to write about. Nearing the end of a ten-game Wednesday run, even in the first week? This is burnout time.

These two teams, though? Perfection. Absolute perfection. Staved off burnout. Staved off ennui.

It wasn't the perfect back and forth. Shots didn't go in, rotations were missed, poor decisions were made, tongues were dragging, 7-footers were missing. Didn't matter. It just didn't matter.

Read More »

Each weekday morning, BDL serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your pumpkin banana meringue pie.

Drew Sharp, Detroit Free Press: "It was one year ago Tuesday that the Pistons dealt Chauncey Billups to Denver for Allen Iverson, officially bringing down the curtain on their reign of Eastern Conference excellence and initiating the start of their tumultuous transition. And ever since, the biggest question surrounding this franchise was, which core piece would next be on the trading block? It was curious when Tayshaun Prince was a late scratch Tuesday due to what the team reported as a lower back strain, and Jason Maxiell didn't play against Orlando. Was there a trade in the works? Were they considering packaging Prince and Maxiell for another expiring contract that could help them next summer in the free-agent shopping market? Joe Dumars shot down the suspicions, insisting there are no deals looming. He figures that the Pistons already have enough new faces. But Dumars also must understand that one of the consequences of transition is the perception of a revolving door in the Pistons' locker room. He truly has a team now that requires a program to identify the names."

Ray Richardson, Pioneer Press: "Two years after leaving the Timberwolves, Kevin Garnett is still capable of getting what many NBA observers refer to as a 'hometown call.' The 15-year veteran had a significant hand in the Boston Celtics' 92-90 victory Wednesday night at Target Center, leaving the Wolves fuming and winless since the regular-season opener. Garnett heard boos from most of the crowd of 19,133 after he tied up Wolves forward Corey Brewer for a jump ball with 3.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Brewer and Wolves fans felt Garnett should have been called for a foul after he reached in to put his right hand on the ball. A replay on the video scoreboard appeared to support the claims. 'I've been waiting for a game like this when a veteran player gets a call or no-call,' Wolves rookie point guard Jonny Flynn said. 'It definitely happened tonight.'"

Read More »

Monday to Friday, The Basketball Jones look at the big games and story lines from the night before with a mix of in-depth analysis and irreverent humor. As always, questions and comments are appreciated.

On today's show, Skeets and Tas face their toughest challenge yet — getting Stan Van Gundy to smile. They also mourn the lack of defense between the Cats and Nets, applaud the gritty Rockets, and tell Hornets fans to start worrying. All that, plus Skeets advocates sports bigamy and Tas calls out Allen Iverson(notes).

Remember to tip your waitress. They'll be here all week.

Subscribe to the video show on iTunes | Download the .m4v directly
Subscribe to the audio show on iTunes | Download the .mp3 directly

Sacramento 127, Memphis 116

Out of nowhere, both Sacramento and Memphis came through with an early season big-top blowout. Full of fun, huge hoops and fair play, the Grizz and Kings went at it hard from the beginning, pushing the ball and looking to find the open man.

Grizzlies and Kings, and the phrase "open man." I promise.

They didn't always get the rock ahead to that open man, but the effort was there. The Grizzlies even had more turnovers (21) than assists (17), and 17 assists in a 53-minute game is pretty poor, but the attitude was on point. For most of the game. We'll get to when it wasn't, later.

The Kings won, with just one starter in double figures, but ... how?

The Grizzlies kept it close, despite being outperformed in every conceivable area, but ... how?

Memphis had scorers everywhere, going at it in the face of a Sacramento perimeter defensethat was pretty porous. Sure, there were hands in faces at times, but to a lot of these Grizz, that hardly matters.

The Kings had Kevin Martin go off for 48 points, but the first four men off the Sacramento bench played significantly better than the other four starters around Martin (who sat for a total of 33 seconds in the 53-minute contest).

Read More »

Each weekday morning, Ball Don't Lie serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your fish and chips.

Tania Ganguli, Orlando Sentinel: "Stephanie Fisher and her son Lawrence Shaw sat in their lower-level seats about an hour after Wednesday night's game ended, waiting for Dwight Howard to come greet them. As part of a contest, Howard flew the two of them out from California for the Magic's season opener against the Philadelphia 76ers. Fisher won by being the one millionth person to follow Howard on Twitter. The arena was mostly empty when Howard strolled up the steps to their seats. He thanked Fisher for being his millionth follower and asked if she'd return for more games. 'We won,' Howard said. 'Y'all might be our good luck charm.' Then he asked if they wanted a picture or to have anything signed and Fisher pulled out a copy of the ESPN Magazine body issue with Howard on the cover. Fisher wasn't an avid Howard follower before the won the contest. She barely knew what Twitter was. But her husband was constantly talking about the things Howard ate — which he learned via Howard's Twitter. So one day Fisher decided to open an account and check it out, and Howard was one of the first people she followed."

Dave Feschuk, Toronto Star: "It's one game. Jose Calderon, the Raptors point guard, said it again and again and again Wednesday night. 'It's one game.' And it was. But the Raptors' resounding season-opening win over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, a 101-91 roller-coaster in front of a raucous sellout crowd, was an awful lot of fun to watch. And it probably said a lot about what you can expect from the local hoopsters this season. You can expect a team that's going to thrill and disappoint in quarter-game intervals, a squad that, as the Raptors did Wednesday, squanders a 21-point lead to deflate the building, only to pump the place back up with an impressive game-sealing rally. You can expect a team that's going to get a tireless effort from its contract-year cornerstone, Chris Bosh, who had 21 points and 16 rebounds. And you can expect a team that's going to be tricky to beat on evenings when Andrea Bargnani, the mercurial Italian 7-footer, provides the kind of inside-outside presence he displayed on Wednesday, when he racked up 28 points and five rebounds, scoring on the drive and on the jumper, and making a 37-year-old behemoth named Shaquille O'Neal look like a past-due slowpoke. 'Shaq couldn't guard him. He was everywhere,' said Calderon of Bargnani. 'There's not too many guys, seven feet, who can do what he does. If he plays like that he's going to be one of the best at his position. It's going to make things easier for us.'

Read More »

Each weekday morning, Ball Don't Lie serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your single malt scotch.

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald: "Glen Davis' season has taken a bad turn in an entirely regrettable incident. The third-year forward could be lost to the Celtics for an extended period after injuring his right thumb in a private altercation with a friend, according to sources. The Celts were saying officially yesterday that Big Baby had suffered an undetermined hand injury and had been sent for X-rays. But sources said there is some type of fracture in the thumb and that he will have to undergo further testing with specialists to determine whether there is greater damage that could necessitate surgery. The injury occurred Sunday night during the incident between Davis and a former teammate, who had flown up from Louisiana, sources said. According to sources, Davis was defending himself at the time. The Celtics were, in fact, aware of the situation at the time, and it is clear neither they nor Davis are happy the team and player have been put in this situation."

Marcus Thompson II, Contra Costa Times: "The estimated 4,000 in attendance for Monday's open-to-the-public practice at Oracle Arena got a preview of a rotation Warriors fans might see often this season. Big man Ronny Turiaf played power forward for long stints with Blue Team, which is usually the starting lineup. Coach Don Nelson still may start forward Corey Maggette, whom Nelson said he would lean on because of the team's inexperience at the position. But Nelson said to expect to see Turiaf on the floor with starting center Andris Biedrins. 'We like that lineup actually,' Nelson said. 'And you'll see that, the big lineup.' Nelson started Turiaf next to Biedrins against the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 20 in Ontario. But shortly thereafter, Nelson announced that Maggette would be starting at power forward over Turiaf and second-year forward Anthony Randolph, leading many to believe he was going to a small lineup primarily. Nelson also expressed uncertainty about how many minutes Turiaf can play and how much offense the team would be sacrificing. Monday's practice showed Nelson is leaning toward going big. Some players certainly like the idea. Swingman Stephen Jackson called it his dream lineup."

Read More »

There's no real reason for this, other than the fact that it's Friday and numbers are fun to look at, but here, courtesy of Bodog, are some updated 2009-10 NBA odds to chew on, digest AND THEN IMMEDIATELY FLUSH FROM YOUR SYSTEM BECAUSE GAMBLING IS ADDICTIVE AND DANGEROUS!

Yeah, you heard me. If you're not careful, gambling will kill your dog and embarrass your good name. I mean, why do you think I changed mine to Skeets? Because I wanted to? Please. I used to be a Kennedy, dammit! A Kennedy! With a dog! A nice, happy, golden retriev— I've said too much.

After the jump, odds to win the NBA championship, odds to win the conferences, award odds, which coach will get fired first odds, where LeBron will end up next summer odds and a few more.

Read More »

Yes, Allen Iverson.

He's back in the Southwest. Or, middle of the country, really. Memphis, Tennessee. But the team he plays for, the Memphis Grizzlies, they're in the Southwest division!

And we've previewed that division. And it's time to face up to the music, and ask some questions about the division. It's time. It's Allen Iverson time.

3:30, Eastern. 2:30, Central. Click the jump and chat away.

Read More »